Ask a Stoner: Why Do TV Shows About Weed Suck?

Westword

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Dear Stoner: I haven't found a good cannabis-centered show on TV. Why is it so hard?
Unenthused

Dear Unenthused: Is Weeds too old? There are other entertaining cannabis shows on television, but most of the smart ones use cannabis as a conduit, not the main course. Netflix's Murder Mountain documentary series about the dark side of northern California's weed-growing culture was a fun watch, highlighting (and maybe embellishing) the sketchy lives, deaths and disappearances of residents and weed growers in Humboldt County, California. HBO's High Maintenance is an interesting take on the life of a New York weed dealer, who is never named in the series; each show uses his daily pot delivery errands as a way to peer into the lives of cannabis users (who are — surprise — just like everyone else).

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Flickr/Joseph Greer

Shows like Disjointed tend to shove weed down our throats, using sitcom writing and stereotypes to highlight the lowest common denominators of cannabis culture. And don't even get me started on cannabis cooking challenges, which are essentially poorly made versions of regular TV cooking challenges, but with weed in them. Until traditional media learns how to be authentic with the plant, we'll have to get by on Judd Apatow movies and South Park's occasional lampooning of the legal weed industry.

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